Contents

An Introduction to Pall Mall

The
game of Pall Mall, known by a variety of names, is a genuinely Royal game
that appears to have been played primarily by Western European royal families
and the higher aristocracy (although the man-servants and caddies were
liable to have a go if no-one was looking).

A lot has been written about the game in England and the fact that a
London Street is named after it gives it a certain momentum that it doesn't
necessarily deserve - not only was it played by a tiny minority of the
populace but I am only aware of the existence of four Pall Mall alleys in
the whole of Great Britain. Nonetheless, it is historically interesting
from the point of view of the games historian because it the close cousin
of two wholly popular modern sports - Golf and Croquet.

Many (most) books on Croquet state blithely
that Croquet is the modern descendent of Pall Mall. There is no concrete
evidence for this and, in England there was gap of more than 100 years
between the demise of Pall Mall and the emergence of Croquet around 1850.
The games have mallets, balls and hoops in common, it is true so authors
who haven't looked further see the link as obvious. However, the balls
and mallets were smaller, the hoop much bigger. In croquet there are 6
hoops close together and convoluted rules surrounding balls striking other
balls etc. It is possible that there is a link from Pall Mall to modern
croquet but it seems to me that Pall Mall is much more closely related
to Golf as the objective was to whack the ball some distance several times
towards the target hoop. When close to the hoop, (according to the Lauthier
rules), the striking implement was changed to a shaft with a spoon-like
end for hoicking the ball through the high arch - adapted more for accuracy
and less for power like a putter in the game of Golf.

In 2012, I attempted to recreate approximately the game of Pall Mall
on the grass alongside 'The Mall' in London for a BBC program 'Restoration
Women'. With limited time and even more limited carpentry skills I used
some light croquet mallets with either end of their heads re-formed at
an angle, some wooden balls of around the right size and an iron hoop
that was too small for historical accuracy but which sufficed for the
job. We bashed the balls inadequately and they bobbled over the bumpy
ground towards a hoop more than 100 yards away. When we got near to the
hoop, although we didn't actually swap clubs for a more subtle instrument,
the strokes changed from a wide golf-like swing to a much more considered
push of a stroke like a putt. Perhaps we were influenced by our knowledge
of the modern Royal game but the result clarified that even this cobbled
together effort was so much like a playing a hole at golf that it was
uncanny. The same feel when striking the ball, the same walking while
making conversation between shots and the same irritation at not striking
the ball quite how you intended. I even found myself replacing divots
- after all the Mall is royal turf.

Origins of Pall Mall

Pall Mall seems to have been primarily enjoyed by the French but the
earliest mention of the game indicates an Italian source. A carnival song
around 1500 from Florence mentions Palla a Maglio - in Italian "palla"
- a ball and "maglio" - a mallet. The French knew the game as
Jeu de Mail (The game of Mail) and it seemed to centre around the Montpelier
region where it was played right into the 20th century. In 1717, when
I believe the game was on the wane in England, Frenchman Joseph Lauthier
wrote a book the title of which translates as 'New Rules for the Game
of Mail' indicating that the game was still all the rage with the aristocracy
in France.

The instructional illustration to the right is from the 1717 Lauthier
book and demonstrates how the player turns at the waist while taking the
backswing. One might observe that this looks mightily similar to a modern
golf swing and not much like a croquet stroke. Notice the waist-high fence
behind the player - the entire court was enclosed within such boarding
and if the ball was struck over the fence it was called going 'out of
bounds'.

There have been other related games played with clubs/mallets and balls
across Europe for centuries and some still exist. Geert and Sara Nijs
in their book 'Games for Kings and Commoners' summarise them nicely:

The game of 'Crosse' or 'Crossage' or 'Choule' or 'Chole' originated
in the Low countries - the earliest documented reference is from 1332.
It is a team game most commonly played on a clear field but also sometimes
played in streets, towns and the countryside. One side attempts to
reach a target in a set amount of strokes, the other team are allowed
to strike the ball away. A few variants of Crosse are still played
today around the Belgian / French border.

Another game called 'colf' mentioned in a poem dated 1261 is another
ancient game about which less is known. It seems to have been played
with a curved club and ball in the streets, churchyards and the fields
around the town. It's likely that again the objective was to reach
a target (such as a tree, a hole, a gap in a hedge or a rock) in the
least number of strokes. The game is recorded being played on frozen
lakes during the 16th and 17th centuries but seems to have died about
by the end of the 17th century.

In the 1700s, a miniature version of Pall Mall appeared called 'Kolf'
in Holland. Kolf is just a version of the game played on a 22 yard
court. It is still popular today as an indoor sport which is organised
by the Netherlands Kolf Union.

And then of course there is Golf, about which a great deal has been
written by a great many people!

The most likely scenario, in my view is that colf is probably the ancestor
of Pall Mall and Golf. Joseph Lauthier mentions 4 forms of the game Pall
Mall, one of which is called Chicane - a less formal variety - "it
is played in open country, in avenues, roads, and any place where people
are wont to meet: the first stroke is usually a tee shot, after which
the ball must be played wherever it lies...The match is finished when
the ball strikes a particular tree or a marked stone serving as a goal
or passes through certain narrow gaps, which have been agreed on...".
The version of Pall Mall played until relatively recently in the Montpelier
region was essentially Chicane. Chicane seems to match almost exactly
the general description of Colf and it's not difficult to imagine the
aristocracy converting the country game to a more formal (and expensive)
variant for their 'superior' amusement. Similarly, the evolution of colf
or Chicane into Golf does not require a vivid imagination. All the elements
are there. Pall Mall players used to play a game to one hoop and then
turn around and play on to the other hoop. The simple change of a hoop
to a target hole would turn Pall Mall into a game that most people would
recognise as a variety of Golf.

Pall Mall arrives in Scotland and England

In 1548 Mary Queen of Scots went to France. It seem highly likely that
she would have seen and/or played the Pall Mall during her stay because
after her return to England she was spotted playing Pall Mall in the Seton
Palace grounds in 1567, 6 years after her return to Britain. The 1568
Cal. Scot. Papers record that [Mary was playing at Seton] "richt
oppinlie at the feildis with the palmall and goif". This document
was used against her as evidence that she was complicit in her husband
Darnley's murder - the argument being that so soon after his demise a
wife should have been mourning but instead she she was out enjoying herself
in the grounds.

Mary's
son, James I of England and VI of Scotland is not recorded as having played
but it is almost certain that he did practice the sport. After coming to the
throne, he wrote in the formal open letter - the Basilikon Doron - addressed
to his first son Henry that one of the sports he should practice is 'Paille
Maille'. James moved to London shortly after acceding to the throne and
is often credited with bringing Pall Mall to England. It seems highly likely that this is true but I have not been able to find any evidence to show
it as fact. James I died in 1625 and the earliest definite reference
to a Pall Mall alley in London is in 1630 when it's mentioned that a Pall
Mall alley exists in St. James' Field (which at the time was a large empty tract of land north
of St. James' Palace).

The Picture to the left is from the Fairthorne & Newcourt map published
in 1658. The original Pall Mall court that is now the road of the same
name is clearly labelled. The avenue of trees south of St. James Palace
was soon afterwards turned into the replacement Pall Mall court that was
considerably grander and which we now know as 'The Mall'.

The subsequent King, Charles I certainly played the game - in 1639, an
author by the name of Peter Mundy reports spotting Charles I 'playing
at Palle Malle St. James' and there are a couple of fascinating maps by
Fairthorne and Newcourt that show a Pall Mall alley that starts from the
North East side of St. James' Palace and runs Eastwards along the south
side of St. James' Field to the bottom of what is now 'Haymarket'. My rough estimate of the length of this old
alley is around 480 yards. A Commissioners for Crown Lands report in 1650
refers to '140 elm trees standing in Pall Mall Walke'. The aforementioned
maps were published in 1654 (labelled Pell Mell) and 1658 (labelled Pall
Mall) but Fairthorne & Newcourt surveyed London during 1643-7. The
alley was not to survive for much longer after this...

King Charles II and The Mall

Of course, these were the most dramatic of times in English history -
in 1646, fearing for his safety, the Duke of York (the future Charles
II) went to France and 3 years later, his father, King Charles I was beheaded.
During his time travelling around Western Europe, Charles II visited several
large cities that are known to have encompassed Pall Mall alleys including
the largest Pall Mall alley ever built at The Hague which was reportedly
1100 yards long. It seems likely that Charles II would have played the
game frequently and given that he apparently grew to be a skilful Pall
Mall player, the chances are he picked up a good few tips and lessons
on this tour.

After the interregnum, In 29th May 1660, Charles II returned to England and moved into St. James'
Palace. He immediately began to stamp his authority starting with a complete
revitalisation of the area surrounding his residence. The
revamp of St. James Park is well documented and included the creation
of a brand spanking new Pall Mall Alley. In fact older maps of the area
show an avenue of trees in roughly the place where the alley was constructed
leading me to suspect that the alley was built on an existing path. The
history of the Mall may well start considerably before the construction
of the Pall Mall alley...

The new alley was, like the whole new St. James Park, a grand vision
indeed. Designed to impress it was, according to Samuel Pepys just short
of half a mile long with a white gravel made from cockle shells laid on
the surface. At one end there was a large spectator stand and running
the length of the alley on both sides were tree-lined avenues for spectators,
servants and caddies to stroll down while they watched the games. It was
planned as the grandest Pall Mall alley in Europe and its grandeur still
exists today. 'The Mall' is an impressive road, leading as it does to
Buckingham Palace, often used on ceremonial occasions and still lined
on either side for much of the way with avenues of trees.

To
the right is a picture from "Chambers Book of Days" which was
published in 1869. It portrays King Charles II attempting to knock the
ball through a ring hanging from a pole that bears an unfortunate resemblance
to a gallows! A lot of people have used this picture to illustrate the
game of Pall Mall but in my opinion it is extremely misleading. While
King Charles II was apparently a skilful proponent of Pall Mall, he would
have needed to be a hero of Ancient Greek proportions to hit a small ball
with a mallet through a ring of that size at that height. Furthermore,
the ground is rough, uneven and there is no sign of the oakwood fencing
that lined a Pall Mall alley. He's certainly not playing Pall Mall. I
believe that the picture is drawn by an illustrator who had no understanding
of the game (which was by then extinct) and had only a brief description
as a clue. The text mentions an "elevated ring" as the target
but no other direct source indicates that the target was a suspended ring.

I am not sure exactly when The Mall stopped being used for the game of Pall Mall.
The latest date that shows the game still being played is 1720 (artistic
licence not withstanding) - a picture of St. James' Park by Jan Kip shows
players wielding mallets at the end of the alley. A pictures from 1741 shows the alley being used as a walk by the local gentry and another from 1745 shows it being used apparently for a social event with dozens of ladies and gentlemen milling around one end of the alley. It was still described
as "a walk" in 1879 by Charles Dickens and my assumption is
that it gradually changed from a playing area to a strolling path when
the game stopped being played there. It was probably not paved until it's
transformation into a ceremonial highway in the early twentieth century.

In case, you are ever in the Mall and minded to walk down where the Pall Mall alley used to be, I found a useful early 18 centry print showing the view from Buckingham House (now Palace) that assists. It shows that the road 'The Mall' does not run down where the alley used to be - it is in fact the avenue of trees on the South side of the alley - which was apparently widened. So if you come from the Trafalgar Square direction, you need to walk down the grass on the right hand side of the 'The Mall'.

Pall Mall (the Road)

After the restoration of the monarchy, the area north of St. James' Palace
- most of St. James' Field was sold off for development - including the
old Pall Mall alley which was anyway reportedly in a state of disrepair.

In July 1661 - players on the new Pall Mall alley were being irritated
by dust blowing off the carriages on the main highway that ran parallel
to it. Accordingly, it was decided to shut this highway, - an ancient
road used since before 1200. Carriages were diverted down the old disused
Pall Mall alley a bit further North. This arrangement persisted for a
year before the new road, the old alley, was paved over. Completing its
transition to a formal byway, the new road was named Catherine Street
after the King's wife. However, the weak King's word was not all-powerful
at this time and the locals continue calling it 'Pall Mall', regardless...
and so it has remained to this day.